Bit of a work interlude here with my visit to Chennai - or Madras in old money. Chennai was the headquarters of the East India Company who pretty much ruled India for several decades. I'm sure our journey was a lot easier than theirs but still about 34 hours door to door - at least we had the weekend to recover. On the Saturday we went to the second longest beach in the world (after Miami) which is next to the Bay of Bengal Then some driving to some sites, however the streets themselves are always fascinating. We played the 'how many people can you spot on a single scooter' game - 4 was the most we saw although these guys deserve a special mention - look what the guy riding pillion is carrying We went to a temple at Kanjipuram Kanjipuram is famous for its silk, poeple travel from all over India to buy silk saris fromKanjipuram and we went to one of the most famous silk shops, drink tea made with about 12 sugars and I bought a scarf for Andy. We were also there just at the tail end of a 2 week festival for Ganesh (the elephant god) and there were loads of processions where people took their statues to the ocean and therew them in to mark the end of the festival. Next day was Mahablipuram - the temple by the sea. Here I am holding up Krishna's butterball its always a good idea to stock up on the handmade suits while in India, here are Bo and Fardeen (Bo is shopping and Fardeen was back in India visiting family but who acted as our tour guide while we were there). We also toured the local electronic shops, I had to get this photo as it is almost certainly the last time I'll ever be in a shop selling CRTs. We spent a lot of time with the team over there where I got a new found sense of respect for how hard life is over there. The team on our project typically have a 60-90 minute bus ride each way to get to work in 100+ degree heat with no air-conditioning, then put in 12+ hour days every day and go home to houses that I'd be uncomfortable staying one night in. Still the team were cheerful and when you're in the office it really is no different from an office anywhere else in the world (apart from when they decorate the floor with flowers as part of a celebration). on the last day we spent some time with the team on an offsite event, playing games and one of the guys is an excellent drummer, I might put on some video later
Then some driving to some sites, however the streets themselves are always fascinating. We played the 'how many people can you spot on a single scooter' game - 4 was the most we saw although these guys deserve a special mention - look what the guy riding pillion is carrying
We went to a temple at Kanjipuram
Kanjipuram is famous for its silk, poeple travel from all over India to buy silk saris fromKanjipuram and we went to one of the most famous silk shops, drink tea made with about 12 sugars and I bought a scarf for Andy.
We were also there just at the tail end of a 2 week festival for Ganesh (the elephant god) and there were loads of processions where people took their statues to the ocean and therew them in to mark the end of the festival.
Next day was Mahablipuram - the temple by the sea. Here I am holding up Krishna's butterball
its always a good idea to stock up on the handmade suits while in India, here are Bo and Fardeen (Bo is shopping and Fardeen was back in India visiting family but who acted as our tour guide while we were there).
We also toured the local electronic shops, I had to get this photo as it is almost certainly the last time I'll ever be in a shop selling CRTs.
We spent a lot of time with the team over there where I got a new found sense of respect for how hard life is over there. The team on our project typically have a 60-90 minute bus ride each way to get to work in 100+ degree heat with no air-conditioning, then put in 12+ hour days every day and go home to houses that I'd be uncomfortable staying one night in. Still the team were cheerful and when you're in the office it really is no different from an office anywhere else in the world (apart from when they decorate the floor with flowers as part of a celebration).
on the last day we spent some time with the team on an offsite event, playing games and one of the guys is an excellent drummer, I might put on some video later
And here is the full team
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